JAPANESE ART > KUCHI-E WOODBLOCK PRINTS > OKANE STOPPING A RUNAWAY HORSE

Lot 00511
N.1 kuchi-e woodblock print

Takeuchi Keishu

OKANE STOPPING A RUNAWAY HORSE

Year: 1906
Condition: good
Size: 21,5 x 29 cm

SOLD

Okane (お兼) was a sarashime (晒女), that is a cloth-bleaching girl, well known for her femininity but, above all, for her incredible strength. Legend has it that one day, on the shores of Lake Biwa (琵琶湖) in the ancient province of Omi (近江国), Okane stopped a runaway horse with one bare hand, while holding her bucket with the other. In this print we see her even depicted while holding the animal still with just one foot.

This beautiful original woodblock print of the kuchi-e (口絵) type, taken from vol. 12 n. 1 of the famous literary magazine Bungei Kurabu (文芸倶楽部), was made in 1906 by Takeuchi Keishu (武内桂舟), one of the most talented students of the famous Tsukiyoka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年).

The print, produced by the Hakubunkan (博文館) publishing house, despite the right signs of aging, is in good condition, thanks also to a relining carried out on the back.

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